thats a beautiful area I have always loved that rowboat house and some of the other ones there.
Not sure if it has changed since i havent been back for a few years but I never used to book in advance or rely on a chain, except in the big cities ( which I thought were big when I lived there but now know even our big cities are small) you can pretty much always find a Motel available in NZ and they are pretty good for the most part.
I have never stayed in a private rental like you mention here, but I have had friends who have and they found exactly the same thing so it may well be a kiwi thing
Thanks for confirming about the private rental, thought so but was curious. We had a few issues renting in advance, biggest disappointment was couldn't get to Coromandel because it was a weekend and everyone was coming out of Auckland to stay there.
times sure seemed to have changed I never had a problem finding a place except in Auckland and wellington once in all my trips back home